For a while, former bantamweight champion Dominick Cruz looked to be sailing to one of the most impressive victories of his career in his hometown of San Diego. Marlon Vera had other ideas, and he closed the show on the future UFC Hall of Famer, stopping Cruz in the fourth round of their UFC Fight Night main event.
Cruz attacked with a combination to open the fight, and moments later came another one, catching Vera off guard. A quick takedown followed in the second minute but Vera shot right back up. A left to the jaw by Vera dropped Cruz and evened the score, but Cruz was up and back to work a second later. And work Cruz did, as his flurries piled up the points, and so did a takedown in the closing minute. Vera nearly locked in a submission late, but Cruz escaped and was in control at the horn.
Cruz continued to mix his attacks up nicely in the second, as Vera was more patient in his attack, knowing that he had the power advantage. But Cruz wasn’t sticking around to get hit, though, and he largely avoided trouble thanks to his in and out movement.
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Ninety seconds into the third round, a right hand by Vera stunned and dropped Cruz, but the hometown hero rose immediately and flurried at his foe, getting right back to what he was doing before the knockdown. Vera was more aggressive, though, perhaps knowing that there was work to be done to get back in the fight on the scorecards.
A minute into the fourth, there was another flash knockdown for Vera, this time with a straight left. Again, Cruz got up, apparently unhurt, and while he was still moving, he was slowing down as Vera closed in, and with a single left kick to the head, “Chito” closed the show, with Cruz dropping to the mat, his nose broken. Referee Herb Dean then moved in, with the official time of the finish 2:17 of the fourth round.